Storm and Stone

by Joss Stirling

  ‘Thank you,’ he said, when he broke off, ‘for rescuing me.’

  She held on for a second longer, then forced herself to let go. ‘You are so very welcome. And thank you for my rescue too. Now, get with the programme, Kieran.’

  ‘Yes, ma’am.’ With a smile that made her knees weak, he returned to the door. ‘All clear.’

  With a huff she slid from the shelf, tucked the can in her pocket, and took up her post at his back. He might now feel equipped by the kiss to go face the dragons outside, but she was still reeling.

  He reached back and took her hand, thumb brushing across her knuckles. ‘Ready?’

  She squeezed his hand in return. ‘As I’ll ever be.’

  Raven did not like this game of hide-and-seek one bit, not when the searchers were armed and prepared to kill you. She put her trust in Kieran knowing what he was doing. Clearly, there was far more to him than an exceptional brain and superior kissing abilities: he moved like Isaac, taking advantage of all cover and sensing just when it was safe to pass through the most exposed parts of the house. They saw a number of guards still searching but, by timing their moves across the corridors, they could keep one step ahead. She had counted at least six different men working for Mrs Bain and the Russian and feared there had to be more. They had knocked one out cold in the linen store but the odds were still stacked against them.

  They were back by her coat rack again. Kieran pointed across the hall to the far door.

  ‘Library,’ he mouthed. ‘Exit to garden.’

  She nodded. This was the most perilous part of their escape from the building, involving crossing the central thoroughfare of the house. They listened hard before making their move.

  Kieran tapped his chest.

  She raised a brow. You first?

  He nodded, putting a finger on her nose in a ‘wait there’ gesture.

  So he was being a hero again.

  She shook her head.

  He frowned.

  She leant over and kissed him, putting her hand back in his.

  With a roll of his eyes, he held up three fingers. One. Two. Three. As quietly as possible, they crossed the foyer and slid into the library. Their luck held. The room was empty. Two half-empty beer bottles sat on the tables by the fire but the wood had burnt down to ashes. The guards Raven had seen earlier were long since gone, too busy terrorizing Johnny and Siobhan to finish their drink. Kieran didn’t spare them a glance as he went to the French windows.

  ‘There’s an alarm at night but I’m guessing with the comings and goings out front, it’s not set,’ he said. He gave the double doors a shove, paused as if half-expecting bells to ring, then breathed a sigh of relief when there was no reaction. ‘Good, I was right.’

  It dawned on Raven from Kieran’s manner that what he was doing was based on guesswork—good guesses, as this was Kieran—but still, he was no more certain of what he was doing than she was. He was winging it, being confident for her benefit. He appeared so self-assured it was easy to forget this.

  ‘You’re doing well,’ she whispered.

  ‘Thanks. I’m just trying not to get us killed.’

  They hunkered down in the shrubbery where Isaac had led Raven only an hour or so before.

  ‘Choices?’ she asked.

  ‘Face dogs and try to find Isaac’s team.’ They both looked out over the dark grounds, neither fancying stumbling about with guard dogs snapping at their heels and only a can of starch to spray in their eyes. ‘Or we see what’s going on at the garage. They’re trying to get rid of all witnesses and, maybe, if we go for help, we’ll miss the opportunity to save the others.’

  ‘Or spoil it by trying to do it ourselves.’

  ‘Exactly. I can’t work out which decision gives us the better chance of success.’

  Raven thought both looked pretty dire. ‘OK.’ She rubbed her hands. ‘Reason doesn’t work here so let’s go with gut. Mine says “go to the garage”. What about yours?’

  ‘Gut?’ Kieran looked uncomfortable with the concept.

  ‘You’ve got to jump one way or another—which?’

  He screwed his face up like he was swallowing a very bitter medicine. ‘Garage.’

  ‘Good. Two gut instincts equal one rational reason in my book. Do you know where it is?’

  ‘Yes. Round the back.’

  Kieran set off at a fast pace. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was running out of time, like sand was pouring on his head as he stood trapped in an hour glass. He was grateful that he had Raven to think about: she kept him centred, helping him focus to make decisions. YDA Owls like him weren’t expected to be action-orientated, so his training hadn’t included the kind of skills he had to use. He knew he was acting up to a level beyond his normal abilities purely because she was at his side, like when he had taken out that guard. Just seeing the man lay hands on Raven had been enough to unleash the beast.

  The first vehicle he saw when they approached the garage was the school minibus the centre used to transport the students to and from Westron. Beyond that was an unmarked black SUV. The doors were open, showing Johnny and Siobhan lying on the seat together, a guard with a gun trained on them. Two more men were just pushing Joe inside to join them. The one Kieran thought of as Handcuff Guy was speaking on the phone.

  ‘Yeah, we’ve got them in the car. No, the others are still loose but I’ve teams on them. We’ll arrange something fatal when we catch them—take them out of the area, do it somewhere they’re not known. Can’t have too many bodies in one spot. You want us to meet you at Windmill Hill in the lay-by? OK, got that.’ He tucked the phone away. ‘OK, let’s move out.’

  One guard got in the driver’s seat as Handcuff Man took the passenger side. The one with the gun climbed into the rear seat, not caring if he trod on any of their victims on the way.

  ‘Windmill Hill?’ Kieran whispered.

  ‘It’s between here and the school—a really steep patch winding down an escarpment. It’s wooded.’

  Kieran remembered it now from the satellite pictures. ‘Who are they meeting?’

  Raven shook her head. ‘No idea.’

  ‘Mrs Bain, perhaps? She’s in charge of making this a plausible accident. A car crash is about as common as you can get.’

  ‘We’ve got to get there to stop them.’ The SUV was already reversing. The men left behind were heading back into the house.

  Where was Isaac? Kieran glanced at the manor. Kolnikov did not look the type to let a big fish like Isaac go, not before he had got everything out of him he could.

  ‘Key, we’ve got to follow!’

  Raven was right. Isaac was on his own for the moment; if he were here, he would tell them that their job was to save the other three.

  ‘Right. Let’s do it.’ He ran across the gravel towards the garage.

  ‘How?’

  ‘Like this.’ He got into the minibus and let down the sun visor. He had noticed on the journey to the manor that the drivers had fortunately developed the bad habit of keeping the keys there. He chucked Raven the set. ‘You drive.’

  She gaped. ‘You serious?’

  ‘You have a provisional licence—I saw it in your room.’

  ‘Yes, Granddad’s given me a few lessons.’

  ‘That makes you the expert.’

  ‘But … ’

  ‘Raven, remember how long it took me to figure out how to dance. Driving is going to be the same. We don’t have a month for me to read the manuals and do the maths. This is not yet in my skill set.’

  She was already sliding into the driver’s seat. ‘OK, OK, I can do this.’

  ‘Thank you.’ He got in beside her. ‘As fast as you can please.’

  ‘Shut up. I will not do this if you start on the backseat driver thing.’

  Kieran bit his tongue. She found the ignition without any help and rattled the gear stick to check it was in neutral.

  ‘We’ll need to go quickly once you start as the people in the house might hear.�
��

  ‘Kieran Storm, put a sock in it.’

  ‘Sorry.’

  She turned the engine over and it rumbled into life. The clutch grated as she hadn’t depressed it enough but then she stepped down fully and got the stick into first. ‘Say your prayers. I’m going for take-off.’

  The minibus lurched along in first until she managed the transition to second. They circled and left the car park, heading for the main drive.

  ‘I’ll look out for any sign of the team,’ Kieran said, nobly making no comment as the engine over-revved and went into third with another judder.

  Raven didn’t reply, lower lip gripped by her teeth in concentration.

  ‘You’re doing really well.’

  ‘No, I’m bad at this. But what do you expect?’

  ‘You’re doing much better than I would,’ clarified Kieran.

  She gave a choked laugh at that and put her foot down. ‘If we want to catch up we’d better not do this by halves.’ The minibus shot down the drive, taking the speed bumps as a challenge to go faster.

  Kieran gripped the seat belt across his chest. ‘You’re magnificent, Raven. You’ll get us there safely. I have every faith in you.’

  ‘Wish I did,’ she muttered.

  Raven pulled the minibus over to the verge just out of sight of the lay-by. ‘What now?’

  Kieran got out and peered over the barrier at the side of the road. ‘Does it get even steeper further on?’

  ‘Yes.’ She came round the vehicle to join him.

  ‘They must be planning to make the car go over the edge.’

  ‘So how do we stop them? Drive past and block the road with the bus?’ She started back to the bus.

  ‘Then we get a head-on collision. Come on—I’ve another idea.’ Kieran began running down the carriageway. Raven followed, having to push herself to keep up. They came in view of the lay-by and saw two cars parked up—the SUV and …

  ‘Joe’s car,’ muttered Kieran. ‘So much for thinking it’d gone unnoticed.’ They jumped over the barrier at the side of the road and crawled the remaining distance in the rough vegetation of the verge.

  As they watched, Mrs Bain got out of the driver’s side. A much better plan to have the accident happen in a vehicle belonging to one of the young victims, Raven acknowledged.

  ‘They’ll have to transfer the others,’ Kieran whispered. ‘That gives us a brief window. Can you get inside, do you think?’ Kieran had his eyes on the men hauling Siobhan out of the back of the SUV.

  ‘Yes.’ The rear door of Joe’s car was open in front of them, with a sizeable footwell for her to hide in. She seized his sleeve. ‘But I’m not sure what you want me to do—your brain is several steps ahead of mine.’

  ‘Take the controls. My guess is they are going to tow it down the hill, release the rope and fix the steering so it goes over. They can’t just push it or it will never get the right speed for crash investigators.’

  ‘You want me to get in a car that’s going over the embankment?’

  He caressed her cheek. ‘I want you to stop it doing so. Can you do that? I’d try but you stand a better chance of hiding.’

  ‘What are you going to do?’

  ‘Me? I’m going to catch the bad guys.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘Later.’ He kissed her. ‘Get going.’

  The man carrying Siobhan opened the door on the opposite side and strapped her in the rear seat. From the wide-eyed expression over her gag, she was awake and terrified. Her cuffs had been replaced by strips of cloth at her wrist and ankles. The man patted her head and closed the far door on her. Raven felt boiling anger on Siobhan’s behalf—bad enough being set up to die, even worse to be patronized while it was happening.

  ‘Put the boys in the front,’ called Mrs Bain. ‘The bigger one is the driver.’

  Raven had only seconds to get in the back unseen. She slid over the road barrier and into the car. Siobhan jolted in surprise but quickly realized this was their last chance of help. She lifted her legs slightly so Raven could fold herself up in the dark gap. Fortunately the man dragging Johnny round to the front passenger seat was in a hurry; he slammed the rear door on the verge side without looking in. Raven started untying Siobhan’s legs, which were right by her hands. From the bouncing and swearing, the boys were making life difficult for the men pushing them in the front. Johnny was grunting and shouting through his gag. Raven winced as she heard the dull thud of a body blow.

  ‘Tie the driver to the seat. I don’t want him messing with the controls,’ ordered Mrs Bain.

  Raven had to hunker down as small as possible as a thin nylon rope was thrown round the seat at chest height. Another rope secured Joe’s ankles to the seat adjustment lever. Then something wet splashed over all of them. A drop ran into Raven’s mouth. A strong spirit. Vodka maybe.

  ‘Should we remove the ropes after?’ asked one of the men.

  After they’d all gone over the edge.

  ‘I think the fire should take care of them but we’ll stay around and check. Have you got the blow torch ready? If the petrol tank doesn’t explode by itself, you’ll have to help it along.’ Mrs Bain sounded impatient. ‘Come on, let’s get this done. It will be dawn soon. The farmers who use this road will be up and about in an hour.’

  ‘Tow rope secured,’ called another from somewhere in front of the car.

  The doors slammed, shutting them all together with the reek of vodka in the air. Johnny gave a frustrated howl of protest. Joe was eerily silent. Raven wondered if he had passed out.

  The car lurched as the SUV picked up the slack on the tow rope. Raven almost moved but she realized one of the men was leaning in the driver’s window to steer Joe’s car out on to the carriageway. He then straightened it up so it was pointing directly downhill.

  ‘It won’t take long. You probably won’t feel a thing,’ the man said, glancing towards Siobhan.

  The Irish girl screamed at him through her gag. He ran to catch up with the SUV, moment of pity soon over.

  The instant he was gone, Raven pushed out from under Siobhan’s legs and squeezed through the gap between the front seats. The car was picking up speed, following the tail lights of the SUV.

  ‘Crap, crap, crap,’ she cursed. There was no time to get Joe out of her way. The car bounced and she cracked her head on the roof. Johnny had stopped grunting and was looking at her in desperate hope. ‘I’m going to take control. Work with me here, guys.’

  Siobhan and Johnny groaned their approval. Joe gave a nod. Good, not passed out—just silenced by the horror of what was happening.

  Raven had no choice but to sit on to Joe’s lap and grope under the seat to shift it back. He helped by pushing down with his heels to move the seat and made a gap for her by spreading his knees. He couldn’t do any more, trussed up as he was. He had more ropes on him than the others—a sign he’d given his captors quite a time subduing him.

  Raven took the steering wheel, not liking the speed. She knew this road, having cycled down it but a few hours before. The corner was coming up. She found the brake with her foot. She couldn’t tap on it to test until the tow ended or the people in front would know something was wrong. Hardest of all was knowing that everyone around her was counting on her to save their necks.

  ‘Say your prayers, guys: this might be a bit close.’

  Just then the minibus zoomed by on the wrong side of the road; Raven caught a glimpse of Kieran at the controls. What was he doing? He couldn’t drive! She had no time to figure that out as the connection to the car in front was released and Joe’s car was left heading for the corner with enough velocity to plough through the barrier. She stamped on the brake, adjusting the steering to skim round the corner. Beside her, Johnny had managed to get his bound wrists on the hand brake and he pulled hard on that. This proved too much—the car slewed round into a spin under the sudden braking. Siobhan gave a muffled scream, Raven a piercing one. The world whirled as the car rocked and bumped into the high v
erge on the opposite side from the drop. Raven, not wearing a seat belt, was thrown so she sprawled across the gear stick, head-butting Johnny’s stomach. When she pushed up, she saw they had ended their mad spin facing uphill.

  But they had survived.

  What was the next thing she had to do? The ropes.

  Raven untied Joe’s hands and the binding around his chest, then turned to Johnny. Joe got free of the remaining bonds, squirmed out from under her and opened his door. He hurried round to complete the job Raven had started on Siobhan.

  ‘Where’s Kieran?’ Joe asked Raven.

  ‘He was in the minibus.’ She had a really bad feeling about what Kieran had planned. ‘Said he was going to catch the bad guys.’

  Joe swore. ‘Get back in, everyone.’

  Raven climbed in the rear next to Siobhan as Joe started the car engine. It sounded very loud after the silent freewheeling adventure down the slope. He turned it to face the right way with a sharply executed three-point turn and headed off in pursuit of the minibus.

  Kieran gripped the steering wheel with an overwhelming sense that he had bitten off more than he could chew. He had watched Raven carefully, knew the basics about accelerator and gears, but he was trying to do something more than drive the bus—he was attempting to use it as a precision weapon. His brain played out the scenario he had planned. Black car at fifty miles per hour. White minibus reaching sixty. Bend curving at fifty degrees to the right with an incline of twenty per cent. He would need to strike at just the right moment to force them off the road and put them permanently out of the picture.

  There was a good chance he would kill himself in the process.

  He quickly ran the odds. Acceptable. What was unacceptable was for Raven, Joe and the others to escape death in a fake accident only to have the occupants of the SUV come back and turn their guns on them. He stepped on the pedal and braced himself for the collision.

  Joe didn’t have far to drive. At the next corner they found the gap in the barrier.